Wicked (Broadway in Portland)

Arguably, the best thing that happened on opening night of the touring Broadway production of Wicked wasn't onstage, but in front of the first row, stage right.

That's where two American Sign Language interpreters were stationed, treating hearing-impaired theatergoers to an impassioned running translation of Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's origin-story takeoff on The Wizard of Oz. The interpreters, Jean Miller and Julie Gebron, managed to condense all the songs and dialogue sung and spoken by 13 principal actors into a riveting, lyrical symphony of hand gestures and facial expressions. Whether in a love duet between Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West and her hunky love interest Fiyero, or in winningly droll exchanges between the introverted Elphaba and her infinitely more popular girlfriend Glinda the Good Witch, Miller and Gebron not only inhabited the characters' emotions, they transcended gender, age and personality in ways that embodied the musical's themes of tolerance and inclusivity more poignantly than did the production's stars. I repeatedly found myself watching them, even as the "real" actors of the evening sang their lungs out onstage.

This isn't to say the principal stars weren't on their game. In fact, they were superb. Alyssa Fox brought a sexy assertiveness to the green-skinned Elphaba, and Carrie St. Louis shone with a flair for physical comedy, channeling Glinda's delightfully daffy cluelessness. Fox and St. Louis' chemistry more than overcame the limitations of the show's overambitious but undercooked plot and a score replete with unmemorable, generic songs, and Michael DeVries as the talking goat Doctor Dillamond brought disproportionate pathos to his small part.

What else is there to say about the perennially performed Wicked, an outsized success since its 2003 premiere? The loyal fans who dress in oddball socks and witch hats to show solidarity with its verdant-hued heroine, the belting characters, even designer Susan Hilferty's sumptuously campy costumes like the steampunk-meets-leprechaun gowns donned in Oz—all of this grandiosity was overshadowed by the sheer heart pouring forth from those two interpreters in front of the orchestra, drably attired in black smocks and minimal makeup. With their mellifluous hands, arms and faces, they turned signing into singing, and in the process stole the show.

SEE IT: Wicked is at Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 248-4335. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Saturday, 2 pm Saturday, 1 pm Sunday through Aug. 23. Additional shows 6:30 pm Sunday, Aug. 16, and 1 pm Thursday, Aug. 20. $41 and up.

Willamette Week